Now, Saba and her family head west to meet him and start a new life. All should be well.

But shadows of the dead are stalking Saba.

And another kind of shadow is creeping over the dustlands.

Then a messenger shows up.

With news of Jack.

Looking forward to this Blood Red Road sequel! On a side note, the cover is stirring a little "dust." Sorry couldn't help it. Some think it's too different from the first hardcover (although it matches the paperback). Also, it says "Better than the Hunger Games" on the front (which is also on the BRR paperback) and that's considered unprofessional and tacky. And, finally, there seems to be a stick coming out of the guy's butt. Any comments?

There’s none so blind as they that won’t see.
Seventeen-year-old Tricia Farni’s body floated to the surface of Alaska’s Birch River six months after the night she disappeared.
The night Roz Hart had a fight with her.
The night Roz can’t remember.
Roz, who struggles with macular degeneration, is used to assembling fragments to make sense of the world around her. But this time it’s her memory that needs piecing together—to clear her name . . . to find a murderer.

Emma and her friend Chloe are spending vacation in Florida. When Emma (literally) runs into a hot guy named Galen on the beach, little does she know he’s a prince of the Syrena. Galen and Emma both feel something strange – is it attraction? – and Galen suspects that Emma might well be the girl he’s heard of – a human who can communicate with fish.

What follows is a deadly scene with a shark in which Galen witnesses Emma’s gifts. He must know more about her, and follows her back to New Jersey, and high school, to find out for sure if she’s the key to saving his kingdom. Soon, Emma can’t deny her feelings for him, but can’t explain them, either – and both she and Galen must learn more about where she comes from and what her powers are before they can trust one another and their feelings.

Monday, February 27, 2012

LUMINOSITY isn't out until Sept 2012 but lucky for us the cover is revealed today!

Kind of pretty and creepy all at once!

"My name is Beatrice. When I was born, I was blessed with the Sight. I was
immediately removed from my parents and enrolled in the Institution. At
the age of twelve, I had my first true vision, earning my raven’s wings.
And when I turned seventeen, one of my visions came true. Things haven’t
been the same since.
The Institution depends on me to keep the City safe from our enemy, the
Dreamcatchers, but I’m finding it harder to do while keeping a secret from
everyone, including my best friend Gabe. It is a secret that could put us
all in danger. A secret that could kill me and everyone close to me.
But the enemy has been coming to me in my dreams, and I think I’m falling
in love with him. He says they’re coming. He says they’re angry. And I
think I’ve already helped them win."

a Rafflecopter giveaway&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://rafl.es/enable-js"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;.

Researching for EMBRACE, I discovered the entire subject of Angelology to be truly fascinating. In the end, I chose to go with the most popular theory, that there are 3 choirs of angels and within each choir, 3 ranks.

At the top of the angel hierarchy sit the Seraphim. They are the angels that are supposed to burn with an all-consuming white flame and who perform the all-important role of maintaining the source of Existence within the physical world.

Following the Seraphim come the Cherubim, and Thrones. I always like the descriptions of the Thrones – bringers of justice.

In the second choir are Powers, Dominations and Virtues. And in the third choir – Principalities, Archangels and Angels (guardians).

In writing EMBRACE, discovering each of these ranks and their purpose on earth was what led to the development of my characters powers. Each character is specifically placed within a rank of angels and then given powers accordingly. For example: Griffin is parented by a Seraph angel, meaning he is a leader and his unique power is a mind power (that of reading and delivering truth) to correlate with the description of the Seraphim’s function in the universe. It is a great way of keeping order to the power pool!

Each angelic rank also has a different appearance and different color that represent them and I found this really interesting. Any time I describe an angelic image, it relates back to this research in some way. Additionally, combining this research with things like the Chakra has led me to the use of color as a representation of power and also gemstones as a link to old mythology. For example: Phoenix’s hair is like opal – so black that it shimmers with purple and it catches the light exposing streaks of dazzling silver. First, I loved the idea of his hair being different, but also, it linked to the significance to his power, and his heritage in the story.

Basing the story around the bones of angel mythology and hierarchy gives me a solid structure to use as my foundation. It anchors the story and gives me direction any time I think the story might be straying.

Also, it allowed me to develop one of the big mysteries within the series: what rank is Violet from?

*********************

Of course, now we want to know Violet's rank! Thanks for stopping by Jessica!

It starts with a whisper: “It’s time for you to know who you are…”

Violet Eden dreads her seventeenth birthday. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. As if that wasn’t enough, disturbing dreams haunt her sleep and leave her with very real injuries. There’s a dark tattoo weaving its way up her arms that wasn’t there before.

Violet is determined to get some answers, but nothing could have prepared her for the truth. The guy she thought she could fall in love with has been keeping his identity a secret: he’s only half-human—oh, and same goes for her.

A centuries-old battle between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity has chosen its new warrior. It’s a fight Violet doesn’t want, but she lives her life by two rules: don’t run and don’t quit. When angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden…

Mirabelle’s past is shrouded in secrecy, from her parents’ tragic deaths to her guardians’ half-truths about why she can’t return to her birthplace, Beau Rivage. Desperate to see the town, Mira runs away a week before her sixteenth birthday—and discovers a world she never could have imagined.

In Beau Rivage, nothing is what it seems—the strangely pale girl with a morbid interest in apples, the obnoxious playboy who’s a beast to everyone he meets, and the chivalrous guy who has a thing for damsels in distress. Here, fairy tales come to life, curses are awakened, and ancient stories are played out again and again.

But fairy tales aren’t pretty things, and they don’t always end in happily ever after. Mira has a role to play, a fairy-tale destiny to embrace or resist. As she struggles to take control of her fate, Mira is drawn into the lives of two brothers with fairy-tale curses of their own ... brothers who share a dark secret. And she’ll find that love, just like fairy tales, can have sharp edges and hidden thorns.

What's worse than being blackmailed to attend a hidden school where you're treated like a second-class citizen? How about nearly getting eaten by a monster when you arrive? Or learning that your soulmate was killed in a centuries-old secret war? And then there's the evil king who's determined to rule the world unless you can stop him...
Meet Kaya, a young woman with the power to heal and the determination to fight. But struggle as she will, she remains tied to three very different men: a hero who has forsaken glory, a tyrannical ruler who wants to use Kaya, and a warrior who's stolen her heart. Kaya learns the hard way that some ties can't be broken...and blood is the strongest bond of all.

Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences. Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect . . . or a curse? With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean—but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago

Friday, February 17, 2012

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness. Elisa is the chosen one.
But she is also the younger of two princesses. The one who has never done anything remarkable, and can’t see how she ever will.
Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs her to be the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.
And he’s not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies, seething with dark magic, are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior, and he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.
Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.Most of the chosen do.

This was awesome! I loved the super-uber girl power!

Starting off, it was slow, but nonetheless intriguing. Princess Elisa was so helpless and self-loathing and I found her hard to
connect with, but boy did that change quick. Elisa went from lonely, fat, and
no self-confidence to strong, fit, independent and a highly intelligent leader
with an endless supply of people who loved her. How’s that for a 180?

Elisa wasn’t the only character to love in this story. I enjoyed the many-layered characters throughout the story. I was
constantly surprised by all who surrounded Elisa. No one was what they appeared
at first, or even second glance.

The relationships grew gradually and realistically, and I felt equally as hurt and/or betrayed as Elisa when
something went wrong. And so, so many things went wrong for poor Elisa.

The romance in Girl of Fire and Thorns was secondary, really
thirdary. Is that even a word? Well, it is now. Sometimes I wanted more, but it worked well because this was more a story of Elisa’s self discovery than
falling for a guy. That said, I’m all about Humberto, he has my heart!

There is a religious aspect to the story, the Godstone in
Elisa is supposed to give her a direct connection to God. I was surprised that
it was never an issue for me. It wasn’t preachy in the slightest and actually added depth to the story and Elisa’s character.

This worthy adventure delivers great twists and turns, lots of intrigue, exciting action and excellent character development.

Straight up fantasy is usually hard for me to get into, but
I had no problems. I would label this baby as a must read. And I cannot, I repeat, cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel! Argh - the waiting!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

For the Random Acts of Kindness Giveaway Hop hosted you can win your choice of book up to $15 from either Amazon, or Book Depository. Open to where ever Book Depository ships. Click HERE for a list of all the participating blogs and their giveaways.

Good luck!

Enter by Feb 21 midnight

Must be 13 years or older

a Rafflecopter giveaway&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://rafl.es/enable-js"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;.

Ayden: Not Texas! Paris, France. We'd get there early so I could take her on a shopping spree on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré which houses designers like Versace, Hermes, Chanel, Christian Doir, and Yves Saint Laurent. She'd get all decked out in some of her new clothes and we'd take a luxurious boat ride on the Seine River. Afterwards we'd head up to the top of the Eiffle Tower and enjoy a romantic dinner at Le Jules Verne. We'd stay up all night exploring the City of Lights, have a delicious breakfast in a quaint cafe then hit the best chocolatiers in town to stock up for the ride home.

Blake: Paris? Psh, lame. I'd take my babe on horseback through the mountains up to the falls. Then we'd have a picnic on top of the waterfalls. She'll be so overwhelmed by my romantic side that she'll swoon into my arms and-

Jayden: A liaison of sorts. Hm...I'd commandeer the family yacht and set sail to a remote location where we could surf together. I'd ensure there'd be perfect waves. Look at me being whimsical!

Tristan: I'd keep my date low key. Buy out the theatre for the day and have them play all my Valentine's favorite movies. Space Odyessy, Ghost Busters, The Matrix.

Blake: Her favorites or yours?

Tristan: Hers. What girl doesn't like Star Wars?

Blake: Trust me, dude, stick to Rom-Coms.

Logan: We'd have dinner at the country club. And I'd have professional dancers come and reenact my Valentine's favorite dance number from her favorite musical. Then I'd dance her over so she could star in it.

Ayden: Are you going to dance too?

Logan: Of course. I wouldn't throw her up there and watch, I'd lead her through it.

Ayden: Tristan!

Tristan: Don't worry, I've already got the camera.

Matthias: *Crickets chirp in the silence*

Tristan: Come on, just answer the question.

Jayden: It's hypothetical.

Ayden: Especially since no girl is brave enough to get within a hundred yards of you.

Win a copy of Demons at Deadnight (ebook or paperback) by answering the question in the comments with your email (or if you're not comfortable, send your email to teensreadandwrite(at)gmail(dot)com)

Open International.

Ends Feb 29.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

***

And there's more - a chance to win a Kindle Fire!

To enter to win the Kindle Fire you need to know the secret phrase given out one word at a time by each blog tour host. Put the words together in sequential order and you'll eventually have the secret phrase! Right now you can Tweet and Follow on the AEKIRK Blog Tour Page to get points but starting March 9 (at the end of the tour) you can enter the complete phrase on the AEKIRK Blog Tour Page and earn BIG entry points! Your Kindle Fire will also include your choice of a DEMONS AT DEADNIGHT Skin. Either from the cover, or a Hex Boy group shot or individual "Team" skin of your favorite Hex Hunk!

For seventeen-year-old Aurora Lahey, survival is a lifestyle.DEMONIC DESTINY. Aurora has the crappiest superpower on the planet. And it’s just unleashed a hit squad from hell. Demons are on the hunt, salivating to carve her carcass into confetti.CHARISMATIC KILLERS. The Hex Boys—mysterious, hunky, and notorious for their trails of destruction—have the answers Aurora needs to survive. But their overload of deadly secrets and suspicious motives makes trusting them a potentially fatal move.LETHAL ALLIES. The battle to save her family, herself, and stop demonic domination may cost Aurora everything worth living for, and force her to reveal her own dark secrets. But no worries. She needs the Hex Boys to pull this off, and, chances are, teaming up with these guys will get her killed anyway.

2) We have come to (virtually) visit
you in the awesomest city in the world, Austin, Texas. Take us on a
personal Shellee Roberts tour of the best places to visit, food to eat, and
things to do!

If you
have never been to Austin, you are missing out! This is not like the rest of
Texas, y’all. First, come in April or October when the weather is absolutely
perfect—unless you love live music, then you have to come in March for SXSW
(South By, as we locals call it) or September for ACL (Austin City Limits). And
I hope you like Tex-Mex and BBQ, cause you’re going to eat it a lot, and love
it!

We’ll
start with the Don Juan Taco for breakfast on the patio at Juan in a Million
before we have to go line up for BBQ at Franklins for lunch, cause it sells out
quick. Afterwards, we’ll work off those calories with a brisk run around the
hike-n-bike trail at Lady Bird Lake followed by a jolting dip in Barton Springs
pool’s constant 62 degree water. Late afternoon will call for a round of
micheladas in the beautiful outdoor courtyard of the Hotel San Jose on South
Congress (SoCo, for you urban hipsters), then we’ll make for chips and salsa
and fajitas at Chuy’s. We’ll make it to the Oasis on Lake Travis just in time
for watching the sun set into the water and then end the day with some music,
of course. Either rock out at Stubbs, two-stepping at the Broken Spoke, or some
blues at Antone’s. This would be a
perfect Austin day.

3) What are the easiest and hardest
things about writing a novel with a group of authors?

The
easiest thing is the collaboration. Writing is usually so solitary, and it’s up
to you to carry the entire book, come up with all the ideas, and you can’t
cover up your weaknesses as a writer. But when you’re writing with others
there’s always someone with a great new twist you hadn’t thought of, someone
who helps maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses and, most
importantly, someone to kick your butt when you don’t feel like writing.

The
hardest part is actually getting any work done when we’re together because all
we want to do is gossip and eat and talk about anything but the book we’re
supposed to be writing.

4) Who's your favorite kissing
couple in the book?

I cannot
lie, I just love Lucas and Cassidy. About Lucas, when I wrote him I put everything
I would have loved about a guy when I was seventeen into him—he’s funny and
flirty and affectionate, and he just really loves Cassidy.

Cassidy is
everything I wish I’d been at seventeen: strong, athletic, independent, not
afraid to stand up for herself. And tall—I really wish I was tall. There’s a
lot about life that scares, Cassidy, not the least of which is her feelings for
Lucas, but I like to think that these two would make it work somehow.

5)
You have just won the chance to be on your favorite TV show for one episode.
You get to create your own character and what part they play. Which show is it,
who's the character, and what happens?

This is the most awesome question! So, I thought about this probably a
little too much, but it was more fun than working on my real writing.

Okay, it’s Friday Night Lights (Season 1) and I’m the new girl in town,
Shelby, who’s got a bit of a rebel streak not to mention a kicking leg that
would make Phil Dawson envious. (Also, I’m about twenty years younger…and
tall.) Any way, I walk onto the Panthers team and dazzle them with my consistent
50+ yard kicking range and Coach Taylor makes me the first female team member
of the Dillon Panthers. This causes all kinds of uproar among the football
purists of Dillon. However, I do catch the eye of shy and sweet quarterback,
Matt Saracen, whom I adore, but realize sadly that he and the coach’s daughter,
Julie, are truly meant to be.
Heartbroken, I fall into the tanned, toned arms of resident bad boy, Tim
Riggins, and obliterate from his memory any thoughts of prissy Lyla Garrity.
Then having won Tim’s heart of gold, I prove myself to the whole town by
winning the state championship in a clutch situation at the timer. All of this
happens in the season finale, but when the next season starts I’m never
mentioned again.

Thank you so much for having me today!

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Shellee Wants To Know...

If you could be on any TV show ever, which one would it be? Tell me in the comments below (and leave your
email so we can contact you) to be entered to win the Around the World In 80
Kisses daily and weekly prize and also become eligible to win the Grand Prize,
a Kindle Fire. For a list of all our Smooch Posts you can visit and earn more
entries to win, visit us here.

**********

Great choices for a kissing spree! Can't wait to spend our day in Austin. We're hungry! And we'd love to see that episode of of Friday Night Lights.

Can't wait to see what TV show you want to be on! We dream about being on Hawaii 5-0, Castle, White Collar, Vampire Diaries, Glee, Supernatural, Once Upon a Time, The Mentalist, Person of Interest, Justified, Bones, Fringe, ...we could go on and on!

Piper, Cassidy, Mei, and Izzy have been best friends their whole lives. And they've always agreed on one goal: to get out of tiny Paris, Texas, and see the world. The school's foreign exchange program seems like the perfect escape: Piper will go to the original Paris; Mei will go to China; Cassidy will go to Australia; and Izzy, unable to afford the program, will stay at home. To add spice to their semester away, and to stay connected to their best friends, the girls start The International Kissing Club, a Facebook page where they can anonymously update one another and brag about all the amazing guys they're meeting. After all, these girls are traveling abroad: amazing guys abound at every turn! But sometimes fun, flirty vacation flings turn into more serious romances, and sometimes you don't return from abroad the same person you were. Will the girls' relationships-and their friendships-be able to survive?